The present invention refers to an improved hip support.
Hip supports are surgical medical appliances that are worn by people who have chronic problems of hip dislocation. In fact, increasingly frequently elderly people, and in particular women, undergo operation for reconstruction of the head of the femur by means of a titanium prosthesis. In the case of such subjects, in a period of variable duration following upon the surgical operation, the head of the femur needs to be blocked inside its seat in the hip to prevent it from coming out. If such an eventuality were to occur, a new surgical operation would be required, with all the difficulties and consequences that this involves for the patient.
Should precautions fail to be taken, a circumstance of this type would arise quite often and in a large number of situations. In this connection, it is sufficient to consider that even when a person stands up from a sitting position, he or she tends always to rotate slightly, and this, in people who are particularly predisposed, would cause the undesired effect of the head of the femur coming out of its seat in the hip, with the consequent need for a surgical operation.
At present, hip supports are made of a first element designed to be worn around the pelvis and referred to usually as xe2x80x9cpelvis harnessxe2x80x9d, which is connected to a second element designed to be worn on a thigh and referred to as xe2x80x9cthigh harnessxe2x80x9d. The pelvis harness and the thigh harness are made of moulded plates of plastic material, and they are connected together by means of an articulated rod that is fixed to them.
In typical traditional embodiments, the pelvis harness comprises a central belt, to the ends of which are connected elements for containing the head of the femur. To make the connection in a way that can be regulated, the central belt is provided with two sets of through holes set on top of one another, which are aligned with two holes, which are also through holes and set on top of one another, of the containment elements. Inserted in the aligned holes are screws for clamping the containment elements with respect to the central belt. In addition, the containment elements are provided with a strap for closing the pelvis harness once the latter has been put on.
In a different embodiment, the connection of the central belt of the pelvis harness to the containment elements is achieved by parts made up of rough material that is added set between the central belt and the containment elements. The said parts are pressed into contact with one another by clasps inserted in a slot of the central belt and in a hole of each containment element.
Furthermore, each containment element is connected, by means of a pair of screws, to one end of at least one articulated rod, according to the patient""s needs.
The second end of the articulated rod is fixed, again by means of screws, to the thigh harness.
The thigh harness is made by means of a shell element open along one side and provided with straps for closing so that the harness embraces the patient""s thigh.
The aforesaid traditional hip supports may notoriously prove uncomfortable to use and not very effective. In particular, traditional pelvis harnesses may cause considerable discomfort if worn for long periods and may prove far from reliable. In fact, for the first embodiment described for connection between the central belt and lateral containment elements, the screws used to make the connection of the central belt to the containment elements enable only adjustment in width of the pelvis harness, but not rotation of the containment elements to adapt them to the pelvis of the person wearing the hip support.
Instead, the second embodiment, albeit enabling an adjustment in width and in rotation of the containment elements, proves not very reliable. This is because the rough elements, with the passage of time, tend to wear out, thus losing their capacity to fasten the various pieces in contact, so that the latter can slide and rotate with respect to one another.
To this it should be added that the clasps press against the user""s kidneys when a traditional hip support is worn, so causing even very intense pain.
In addition to being in itself an extremely tiresome drawback, this may lead the patient to assume incorrect and harmful positions.
Furthermore, since the articulated rod is fixed to the pelvis harness and to the thigh harness exclusively by means of screws and is not housed in seats that define its position, in certain cases problems may arise of positioning of the thigh harness with respect to the pelvis harness. This occurs because, for example, when the hip support is to be applied to a person of short stature, the orthopaedic technician cuts the metal rod so that the thigh harness and the pelvis harness, when assembled, are at a correct distance apart. Frequently, however, when the rod is cut, one of the seats for one of the clamping screws is removed. When this occurs, the connection between the thigh harness or pelvis harness and the rod depends upon a single screw only. For this reason, the rod inevitably tends to rotate and, in any case, does not guarantee perfect alignment between the thigh harness and the pelvis harness.
A purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the technical problems referred to above by providing an improved hip support that is substantially comfortable and does not cause distress for the patient wearing it, even after long periods of time.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a hip support that is always effective and reliable.
A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a hip support the elements of which can always be positioned and fitted together in an appropriate way so as to perform their function in an optimal manner all the time.
Not the least important purpose of the present invention is to provide a an improved hip support that is basically simple and safe.
These and other purposes according to the present invention are achieved by providing an improved hip support.
Other characteristics of the present invention are moreover defined in the ensuing claims.
Advantageously, the hip support according to the present invention is made of injection-moulded plastic material. This production process enables not only to make the component elements of variable thickness, thickening the portions that are subject to larger stresses and lightening the portions that are subject to less stress, but also enables safety borders in relief to be made along all the edges of the elements of the hip support. This production process moreover enables considerable containment of the costs of production of the hip support according to the invention as compared to traditional hip supports, so that it is possible to provide hip supports that are basically economical.